Dairymap a Web-based Expert System for dairy herd management /

by (Sanjay Sharma), 1974- Chellapilla

This thesis describes the design and implementation of DairyMAP, a Web-based benchmarking analysis and Expert System for Dairy Herd Producers, as part of the Dairy Management Analysis Program undertaken by the Edgar L. Rhodes Center for Animal and Dairy Science. The system consists of two major components – a preliminary statistical benchmarking analysis (based on Dairy Herd Information reports provided by the Dairy Records Management Systems, Inc., in Raleigh, NC) and, a detailed expert evaluation of the four major areas of dairy herd management, viz., Somatic Cell Count and Mastitis, Reproduction, Genetics, and Milk Production. The preliminary analysis provides information to the producer about the areas of concern within each component of dairy management, and suggests further evaluation and diagnosis by the Expert System, concluding with comments and recommendations for improving the producer’s herd. The entire system is Web-based, allowing a producer from anywhere in the United States to utilize the system. Though there has been similar work with Expert Systems for individual areas in Dairy Management, this project aims to provide a single integrated system evaluating all the four major areas, with the preliminary analysis limited only by the dairy herd data available. This report describes the system as operational at the end of the first phase of the project, with work ongoing in improving the system and adding features to the system. The system is available at the URL http://dairymap.ads.uga.edu/